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2000 Season Game 9 (6/10/00): Albany @ Buffalo |
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'Birds upset by hapless foe
BUFFALO -- The Buffalo Destroyers deserved their first victory Saturday night, outplaying the Albany Firebirds and leading the entire second half.
In a wild finish, the Destroyers finally got that elusive win in their ninth game of the season, even after it seemed like the Firebirds were about to finish off a remarkable comeback.
Mike Black kicked a 27-yard field goal with 5:47 left in overtime as the Destroyers, the Arena Football League's only winless team, upset the defending champion Firebirds 51-48 in an Eastern Division contest.
"Buffalo played hard and did what they needed to do,'' Firebirds coach Mike Dailey said. "We didn't do enough, and that's probably what's more discouraging. If we'd won the game, I would have felt like we stole it. They played hard and we didn't play real well.''
Albany, which rallied from a 14-point deficit with 1:49 left in regulation, had the ball in overtime after a fumble at the Albany 2 by Buffalo quarterback Kevin Mason. Under Arena overtime rules, which require that each team gets one possession, all the Firebirds' No.1-ranked offense had to do was score -- even a field goal -- and the game was over.
But Firebirds quarterback Mike Pawlawski threw an interception to Buffalo's Cyril Weems at the Buffalo 10 on a pass intended for Greg Hopkins. Weems read the throw so well, he looked like the intended receiver, beating Hopkins to the ball.
Buffalo backup quarterback Nick Browder entered the game for an injured Mason (shoulder) and completed three passes to move the Destroyers to the Albany 11.
On first down, Black, a first-team all-leaguer last year, came in and delivered his third field goal of the game for the victory in front of an announced crowd of 5,676 at HSBC Arena.
"It's deflating to lose that way when we had it in hand,'' said Pawlawski, who threw for 294 yards, six touchdowns and his fifth interception in 297 attempts this season.
The Destroyers (1-8) avenged an embarrassing 75-23 loss on May 12 to the Firebirds, who in the rematch were missing three key defensive players to injuries.
Albany (6-3) remained in sole possession of first place in the Eastern Division because of New England's (5-4) loss to San Jose.
The Destroyers have been considered an improving team since head coach Ray Bentley took over early in the season. They'd made personnel changes and had played New England (37-34) and Nashville (42-29) very well the past two weeks.
"The 0-8 was a killer and we had a rough second half up in Albany last time we were up there,'' Black said. "I just think we wanted it a little more tonight. The guys prepared well.''
Meanwhile, Firebirds lineman Mark Valvo said his team hasn't played up to potential the past few weeks, though they were missing three defensive starters to injuries against Buffalo: Derek Stingley (knee), Jay Jones (wrist) and Tim Brown (neck).
"They (the Destroyers) were jacked up to play,'' Valvo said. "This is a game we're supposed to win and we didn't do it. We've got some soul-searching to do. It's tough to lose in overtime to a team that's not supposed to be a threat.''
The Firebirds had rallied from a 48-34 deficit with less than two minutes left to tie the game on Leroy Thompson's 1-yard run with three seconds left and Nelson Garner's subsequent extra point.
Earlier in the drive, Pawlawski threw a 43-yard completion to offensive specialist Quincy Jackson (11 catches, 165 yards) to the Buffalo 2 with less than a minute left in regulation.
Albany fullback Jon Krick was stopped short three times at the 1, but on fourth down, Thompson scored on a 1-yard run with three seconds left to bring Albany within 48-47. Then Garner made the easy, but tension-filled extra point to tie the game.
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